[Alternatives] – Movie Review – Everest (2015)

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AlternativesMovie Review – Everest (2015)

A climbing expedition on Mt. Everest is devastated by a severe snow storm.

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I feel like anytime the focus is “man versus element (or uncertainty and unknown)”, my hands get suuuuuper clammy. I’m sorry if that’s kinda gross to imagine but that’s a testament to how visually provoking this film was.

The production (?) or cinematography (?) or overall presentation (?)–something (?)–was good. In truth, I went into this film unknowing its biographical intent and it was great to be able to live vicariously through these adventurers. Everest doesn’t romanticize the dire circumstance of nature being nature, and through that, I felt saddened by what happens. It wasn’t tear-level sadness but it left me with a somber mood.

I don’t even know what other feeling I could have walked away with.

Casting

Everest is led by Jason Clarke spearheading the expedition that includes names I’m familiar with in Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, and Jake Gyllenhaal. But all things being equal, I feel like Everest is one of those films that the delivery of the subject would have worked no matter the cast. It was still generally compelling but I’m sure I was caught up in the concept than the nuance in delivery. Not to forget that the level of care is spread thin with such a large cast; similar to a “oh that’s tragic…okay next character”.

It actually wasn’t based on the book Into Thin Air. But it was based on the tragic event that Jon Krakauer experienced. The OCD in me drives me a little crazy when people think that the movie was based on the book just because they are about the same event. In fact, Krakauer had a few issues with the film. The scene where Anatoli Boukreev comes into Krakauer’s tent to ask for help, he claims never happened. There is a lot of interesting controversy surrounding the event and Boukreev wrote a book about it as well with some notable differences from Krakauer’s book.
I really liked Into Thin Air and I also really enjoyed (although that doesn’t seem like the right word for it) the movie.

Not that I’d venture out to read it but that’s a good bit of trivia there haha. It’s definitely an odd thing to say that we enjoy witnessing the triumphs and misfortunes of people being challenged by mother nature. Probably some weird human nature thing.